--- On Sat, 5/4/13, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: [Spacedock] DIP: Meetings (Damesh/Ra'aj) To: [email protected] Date: Saturday, May 4, 2013, 3:21 PM Melora Damesh arrived at Plantoc Ra'aj's office and indicated to the underling at the desk that she was expected. While she managed to keep any expression off her face, inside she was less than pleased. By rights this meeting should've been held at *her* office, but she had reluctantly decided not to demand that. There were more important things she would have to spend energy fighting for, if the Cardassian Union's rights were to be properly respected in the Council. One had to know how to pick one's battles if one was going to get anywhere. "Ambassador Damesh, please come in," said the Council Chair as she had a sense of deja vu. "I thank you for taking time out of what must be a very busy schedule." "Indeed." Melora responded dryly. "I was hoping you could share with me your thoughts about the Diplomatic Council .... what it has or hasn't accomplished in your opinion." Melora shook her head. Sometimes Ra'aj could be downright obtuse, she thought to herself. What she--and the Cardassian Union she represented--felt was lacking in the Diplomatic Council should be obvious to anyone with an ounce of intelligence. But since she clearly was going to have to at least summarize--"Plantoc, it is simple..there has been far too little regard for the rights of the Cardassian Union in the decisions this Council has made over the past few years." T'Kresh bit back the heavy sign and the desire to roll her eyes. She was surprised that she hadn't gotten more of this with these one-on-one discussions. "I appreciate your candor, Melora. I am honored that you feel comfortable enough to share with me your people's concerns. I would like to do what I can to try and make sure that Cardassia feels it's voice is being properly heard. What issues would you like us to focus on that would be of particular interest to your government?" Well, if Ra'aj was going to insist on being dense--Melora managed to keep from an obvious sigh. "To begin with, the Council has repeatedly insisted on allowing representatives of those who have been--and in our opinion, continue to be--a threat to our security. Then there have been...." and she went on from there, silently seething that she had to do this. But then Ra'aj was herself of one of those races, Melora reminded herself. If only the Council would elect someone more...amenable...but she forced herself to file that thought away, it was of no value to the present issue. T'Kresh had a sense where this was going. She was disappointed to hear that Melora had fallen back on her racism "I guess I should ask why the Cardassians would want to continue with the Council if they are so displeased with the results." "There are some, it seems to us, who might want to see us withdraw," Melora replied. "But doing so would only give them the advantage over us, for then they would be free to plot against us behind our backs. To allow *that* would be counterproductive to our security, do you not agree?" She found herself thinking of a Terran saying she had once heard...'keep your friends close, but your enemies closer'. That, she had to admit to herself, seemed to apply to the present situation. T'Kresh had to give Melora credit. The argument was a strong one. "I hope you would not mind that I speak freely, Madam Ambassador." (assuming yes, but will re-write if you say know.) "Not everyone is able to just walk away from the past easily. While I believe we cannot look to the past and use it to place blame on the people of today. Some of the members of the Council are from planets that fell under Cardassian control. That means the Cardassians were basically their overlords. That did not always lead to good experiences. That is likely coloring their views." T'Kresh paused to see how the woman would react to the simple statement. "We brought them order." Melora replied. True, they had also taken resources from the other worlds, she thought, but what of that? What Cardassia lacked had to come from somewhere, if their own people were not to starve. "We would still be doing so, had the Dominion not disrupted things." While T'Kresh knew that the order that was imposed was not something the various people whose planet fell under Cardassian control appreciated, she knew that Melora Damesh truly believed her people had been doing good. "I do believe that the imposition of order and the consequences of that imposition is something that the Cardassians and the other worlders might disagree on. I do not believe that any of those peoples have intentions of banding together to conquer Cardassia. I think that it is just a feeling that they might have lost something during the occupation period.". "Once, our leaders chose to place their trust in the Dominion. That proved to be a costly mistake, as you well know. Why do you think we fought to keep them out of the Council? The day will come, mark my words, when they will betray you as they did us. Now these others who, thanks to the Dominion's meddling, we were forced to relinquish control over...how can you be certain that they, too, will not one day turn on those who they--however wrong we know that to be--regard as "oppressors"? No. For the sake of Cardassian security, we must always be on our guard." (Ra'aj?)
